Cristiano Ronaldo had two goals disallowed for offside as Al Nassr were left frustrated by a tense first half against Al Kholood in the Roshn Saudi League on Thursday.
The Al Nassr captain appeared to lose his temper after both decisions, confronting referee Khalid Al-Tarais and demanding that the first incident be reviewed by the video assistant referee (VAR). However, the official stood by his decision, leaving Ronaldo visibly angry as the debate continued on the pitch.
The first incident came in the 10th minute. Ronaldo received a pass from Abdullah Al-Hamdan inside the penalty area and finished into the net, but the goal was ruled out because the Portugal forward had moved into an offside position.
Ronaldo immediately protested the decision and was seen shouting at the referee. He called for the incident to be checked by VAR, but Al-Tarais did not overturn the ruling and Al Nassr were denied an early lead.
The forward appeared to have found the net again in the final minute of first-half stoppage time. This time, he converted a cross, only for the referee to disallow the effort after judging that Ayman Yahya had been offside at the start of the move.
The two decisions meant Ronaldo was denied what would have been a first-half double, with both goals ruled out for offside offences. The repeated setbacks intensified his complaints and added to the tension surrounding the match.
Al Nassr went into the interval without benefiting from either of Ronaldo’s finishes, while Al Kholood remained level. The focus turned to the second half and whether Ronaldo could score again with an effort that would stand, potentially giving his side the advantage.
